Why is it called Ushahidi and not Crowdmap?

Over the years we have run different products with the names Ushahidi and Crowdmap. It has caused a lot of brand confusion. We want to clear up this confusion by sharing some history and talking through our decision process to name both the open source and cloud versions of the product just "Ushahidi."

At first they were the same product, but with different names for the Open Source (Ushahidi) and Cloud version (Crowdmap - now called Crowdmap Classic). We then built a new version of Crowdmap whose user base and features diverged from Crowdmap Classic and it became a separate product focused on doing super easy collaborative mapping with a social group or team. We called this new product Crowdmap, and changed the old Crowdmap, aka the cloud version of the open source Ushahidi platform, to Crowdmap Classic. This was confusing, it’s still confusing, even trying to write that last sentence was confusing.

But, as we have grown and tried all these new things, we have come to recognize that our community sees our original Ushahidi product, the crowdsourcing platform, as synonymous with our brand name, Ushahidi. Even today our users mentioned in the media or who write about us on their blogs usually refer to it as “using Ushahidi.” So, from now on we are calling v3, The Ushahidi Platform. There is an open source version, and a cloud version coming soon, and both are the Ushahidi Platform. Meanwhile the Crowdmap API will be maintained as an easy-to-use mapping developer tool, and be part of our Solutions team toolbox. We will also continue to host old Crowdmap Classic maps for some time. But from here on out the Ushahidi v3 product, in all it’s incarnations, will be referred to as The Ushahidi Platform.

Please help us to continue spreading the word on how to pronounce Ushahidi (oo-shah-hee-dee).

Sign up for the wait list, and spread the word!